'Bombay to Goa' promises a hilarious bus ride

Debutant director Raj Pendurkar has roped in a host of comedians from television and films for his "Bombay to Goa" that promises to be a laugh riot. The film, releasing Friday, is about a bus journey and stars stand-up comedians Raju Shrivastav, Sunil Pal, Ehsaan Qureshi, Naveen Prabhakar along with the seasoned comic stars from Bollywood - Asrani, Jagdeep, Paintal and Jr. Mehmood. It also has Vijay Raaz.

The story revolves around Lal (Sunil Pal) and Das (Vijay Raaz). Lal is a very ambitious guy who wants to be successful and start his own business. He is basically a dreamer and thinks about doing something big in life.

Das, an ex-bus driver, is a loudmouth and arrogant. He used to work in a state transport company but couldn't get along with his seniors and eventually left the job.

Then lady luck smiles on Lal and he wins Rs.200,000 in a contest and both friends decide to go into business. Das suggests that they can start a travel agency but for that they need more money because they can't even afford a Maruti car in that amount.

So they go to Chor Bazaar and buy spare parts of old and imported cars and make a bus. Lal has no idea about what the bus is going to look like. He just gives the money to Das and says, "I trust you, go ahead with it". Das asks Lal to get the passengers for the bus on a particular day.

Lal lures people by saying that they have this palace-on-wheels coming up and manages to book 15-16 passengers. He gives them a discount claiming that you'll get the best bus service in the world.

But when the bus comes in, it is a madhouse, and people demand their money back. So Das comes up with an idea, saying that this is a pick-up bus and we can get passengers on the highway. Finally, they try to persuade passengers on the way and carry on with their journey.

The Amitabh Bachchan-Aruna Irani starrer "Bombay to Goa" (1972) was a huge flop.

With expected biggies like "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" flopping and small fries like "Bheja Fry" scoring hits, one can hope that this performance-oriented film clicks with the audience.

Indo-Asian News Service